Newsletter - 17 July 2025

From our Principal

Dear Parents,

Our society needs all sorts of people for it to function effectively.  We all know that doctors, cleaners, farmers, plumbers, builders, teachers are just some of the occupations that are required to ensure we can all live effectively.  Each one of these people has a job to do.  It will always be important that these roles are fulfilled effectively.

Harmonious and compassionate societies need more than people fulfilling their job descriptions.  They need people of compassion.  Catholic Schools aspire to prepare our children for their future career.  We also want to support families by providing and challenging children to be more than that.  As a Catholic School it will always be our challenge to assist and support children to be better people.  Our school supports, implements and encourages children to reflect the gospel values.  But what does that really mean.  Very simply we challenge children and the entire Emmanuel community to live lives as Jesus did.

We can only ever expect children to understand what it means to be “gospel people” if they are provided with guidance, role models and opportunity.

Each week we are faced with dilemmas in our lives.  Some of these dilemmas are easily resolved, others are more complex and require some degree of sacrifice.  It could be argued that perhaps our biggest dilemmas revolve on how we treat everyone in society.  Ask yourself this week “How do I want to be remembered?”  As you spend your time in our community this week, will you take a step forward and be compassionate by your own actions or take a step back and critique those who seek to make positive change?

“Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, they are a sign of strength.”                                                        (Dalai Lama)

“A generous heart, kind speech and a live of service and compassion are the things that renew humanity.”                 (Buddha)

Wishing you every blessing for the coming week,

Geraldine Rostirolla

Principal  

RE Matters

LUNCH IN THE PARK – A REFLECTION

There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with cupcakes, several cans of lemonade and started on his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he saw an elderly woman.  She was sitting on a park bench watching the pigeons.  The boy sat down next to her and opened his suitcase.  He was about to take a drink of lemonade when he noticed the old lady looked hungry, so he offered her a cupcake.  She gratefully accepted and smiled at him.  Her smile was so wonderful that he wanted to see it again, so he offered her a drink of lemonade as well.  Once again she smiled at him.  The boy was delighted!

They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling and never saying a word.

As it began to grow dark, the boy realised how tired he was and wanted to go home. He got up to leave, but before he had gone no more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to the old woman, giving her a hug.  She gave him her biggest smile ever.

When the boy arrived home his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.  She asked, “What has made you so happy today?”  He replied, “I had lunch with God!” Before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? She’s got the most beautiful smile in the whole world!”

Meanwhile, the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home.  Her son was stunned by the look of peace on her face. He asked, “Mother, what has made you so happy today?” She replied, “I ate cupcakes in the park with God.” And before her son could reply, she added, “You know he is much younger than I expected.”

(Author Unknown)

Catholic Schools NAIDOC Mass: Tuesday 22 July

Children’s Mass: Sunday 27 July

Catholic Education Week: 27 July – 2 August

Feast Day Mass and Beach Day: Wednesday 6 August

NAIDOC WEEK 2025

NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements. It is also an opportunity to recognise the contributions that Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society.

This year’s theme is ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy’.

Next week we will recognise NAIDOC Week at Emmanuel. On Tuesday our Year 3-6 indigenous students will participate in the Mackay Catholic School’s NAIDOC Mass, and on Friday we will gather for a morning of activities and our Walk for Reconciliation.

CELEBRATING WITH OUR PARISH

This month’s Children’s Mass will be celebrated at 9:00am on Sunday 27 July at St Joseph’s Church. Students wishing to participate in the ministries should contact Mrs Kliese in the office.  We are looking for readers, singers and students to bring forward the gifts. Our school group will sit together near the piano. All welcome!

These Masses are always a wonderful celebration and a great opportunity to support and thank our parish.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK (21-27 July)

Catholic Education Week will be celebrated across Queensland 27 July – 2 August this year. This annual event is held to promote the special ethos of Catholic schools and to highlight the great things that take place in Catholic schools every day.

The 2025 theme is ‘Communities of Faith, Hope and Love.’

Catholic Education strives to make a difference in the lives of those in our schools and in the wider community by challenging young people to live out the message of Jesus and to reach their full potential as compassionate, contributing, life-giving members of society.

The State’s Catholic Education Week Launch will be live streamed from St Joseph’s Cathedral, Rockhampton on Wednesday 30 July at 12 noon.  Bishop Michael will be presiding.

At Emmanuel we will be celebrating Catholic Education Week with a number of activities. Be sure to join us on Friday 1 August for our Grandparent’s Prayer Celebration (9:30am), open classrooms and Family Picnic Morning Tea (10:30pm).

FEAST DAY

On the 6 August each year the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of the Lord.  It is the Fourth Luminous Mystery of The Rosary and tells the story of Jesus being transformed, and of God proclaiming from heaven that "This is my beloved Son." This feast celebrates the revelation of Christ's divine glory on Mount Tabor (Mark 9:2-10, Matthew 17:1-9, Luke 9:28-36).

The Transfiguration is our school feast day and each year we gather to remember and celebrate that ‘God is with us.’

Please join us in the Marist Centre on Wednesday 6 August to celebrate. Our Mass will begin at 9:00am.  All welcome! 

BEACH DAY – WALKATHON

Our annual beach day and walkathon will be held on Wednesday 6 August at Bucasia Beach.  Each year this walkathon is held in conjunction with our Feast Day Celebrations and raises awareness of and money to support a justice initiative.  Students travel to and from Bucasia Beach Park by bus. They participate in the walkathon and beach activities before enjoying a sausage-sizzle lunch, kindly donated and cooked by the Emmanuel P&F Association. More details in next week’s newsletter.

A big THANK YOU to all families who contributed non-perishable pantry items to our appeal last term. Your donations were very welcome and much appreciated. You have helped Vinnies help others in the Mackay region.

DANIEL MORCOMBE CHILD SAFETY CURRICULUM

Throughout this term, our school will be implementing the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum with students in all year levels. The curriculum is based on principles of best practice in child safety education and centres around three key messages: Recognise, React and Report. Through a series of lessons, students will learn how to recognise, react and report when they are unsafe or find themselves in situations that can have a significant detrimental effect on their physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing.

Recognise

The focus of lessons in all classrooms next week will be RECOGNISE - the first key safety message of the curriculum. Recognise is about being aware of your environment. Children, young people and adults can all learn to take notice of what is happening around them to help keep themselves safe. Everyone can use clues, such as the things we see, hear, smell or feel to help protect us from harm and keep ourselves safe. Clues can be simple things that warn us about a danger, like hearing a fire alarm or seeing smoke, that prompt us to react. We can also use clues to prepare for potentially unsafe situations.

When we recognise that there might be a safety problem, we can take steps to move away or reduce the risk or develop strategies that can help keep us safe.

It is important that the key safety messages of the Daniel Morcombe Child Safety Curriculum: Recognise, React and Report are reinforced, both at school and home.  I encourage you, wherever possible, to talk with your child about safety to help them stay safe now and in the future.

For weekly Gospel readings, reflections and meditations go to http://www.prayasyoucan.com.au/

Download this week’s parish bulletin @  https://rok.catholic.net.au/parish/mackay-st-josephs/#

For Parish News go to the Catholic Parish of North Mackay and Farleigh Facebook page.

VIRTUE OF THE FORTNIGHT – PURPOSEFULNESS

Being purposeful is having a clear focus, instead of being unsure of what you are doing or why you are doing it. You are acting purposefully when you have a goal you are working toward. You concentrate your mind and your efforts to achieve your goal. You have a positive attitude and don’t let obstacles stop you from doing what is important. Some people just let things happen. A purposeful person makes things happen.

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” (Lewis B Carrol)

Noeleen Kliese

Assistant Principal Religious Education

Curriculum Corner

ICAS - ACADEMIC COMPETITION

If you are interested in entering your child, please complete the link below:
Parent Code: YKT454
Parent Page Link: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/parent-payment/YKT454

Registration for all subject areas closes on Monday 28 July at 11:59pm

Brooke Tomkinson

Assistant Principal Curriculum (Acting)

APA News

STUDENT PROTECTION - SCHOOL CONTACTS

At Emmanuel any concerns or reasonable suspicions about a student’s safety and wellbeing or the behaviour of a staff member or volunteer which a student considers to be inappropriate, will continue to be managed in accordance with Rockhampton Catholic Education Student Protection Processes. The Student Protection Contacts at Emmanuel are:​

Geraldine Rostirolla (Principal)

Amanda McDonald (Deputy Principal)

Noeleen Kliese (APRE)

Hayley Francis (School Counsellor)

Alexandra Martin (OSHC Co-Ordinator)

Further information about Rockhampton Catholic Education's commitment to Student Protection is available here:  website: https://www.rok.catholic.edu.au/our-schools/student-protection/

STUDENT PROTECTION – USE OF TOILETS

At Emmanuel, we are committed to the safety of all students in our care. It is imperative that students understand the importance of using the toilet facilities at school in an appropriate manner. Classroom teachers regularly remind students of these behaviour expectations and use the poster (located in all school toilets) to ensure all students understand these important messages. We ask that you discuss these expectations at home with your children, so that we are all doing our part to keep children safe at school.

DESIGNATED TOILETS FOR PARENTS

At Emmanuel we have lots of volunteers, parents and contractors visiting our school each week. Therefore, it is important that we provide toilet facilities for their use. From a student protection perspective, we ask that parents do not use the student toilets. There are two toilets designated for the use of all parents, toddlers and visitors.  These are the disabled toilets which are located at the back of the Library and beside F Block (Year 6 Classrooms and OSHC room) and at the end of R Block (Year 1 Classrooms).  There is a yellow sign on the doors of these toilets advising parents that they are welcome to use this facility.  Hope this helps you to not be ‘caught short’!

STOP DROP GO ZONE

LATE ARRIVAL & EARLY DEPARTURE

• Classroom rolls will be marked each morning at 8:45am. If your child/ren arrive at school after this time, it is necessary for a PARENT / GUARDIAN to sign in at the school office. 
• If your child is being collected during the school day by any person who is not listed in your emergency contact list we ask that you notify the office BEFORE pick-up occurs and advise the office staff of this arrangement. 
• Staff cannot dismiss a student if the person collecting your child/ren is not listed as an emergency contact in your file and permission has not been communicated to the office or teacher.
• We ask that you ensure your contact details and emergency contacts are up to date via Parent Orbit App / Parent Lounge.
•  A reminder that when collecting your child during class time, you must report to the Administration Office and advise staff of the necessity for early collection.  Your child will then be called to the office, whereby you may then sign-out / collect your child.  Please do not collect students directly from the classroom without first presenting at the school office.  

PREP VISION SCREENING 

The Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program will be screening (student's with consent) on Wednesday 23 July 2025. It is a Queensland Government service that offers Free Vision Screening to all children enrolled in Prep. Vision screening checks for common eye conditions which may affect your child's ability to see, learn and develop.

The following video explains the benefits of having your Prep child’s vision screened- “What is Prep Vision Screening?” 

For further information contact the Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program on 1800 687 372.

STUDENT COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

Congratulations to the following students who have been elected by their peers as Student Representatives for Term Three:

6M: Flynn S and Lotti C

6D: Connah C and Lailah J

6WD: Lincoln P and Isla S

Badges will be presented to these students at Assembly tomorrow, Friday 18 July 2025.

Amanda McDonald

Assistant Principal Administration

Strategic Priorities 2025

From our Counsellor

Welcome back to a new term of learning.

If the holidays presented some parenting challenges, and you are interested in adding some parenting tools to your toolbox, you might be interested in the attached flyer from the Family Relationship Centre.

The Family Relationship Centre are offering 3 different parenting programmes for free.

Details on target areas and how to book and enquire are included in the attached flyer.

Hope you all have a wonderful term!

Hayley Francis

School Counsellor

SchoolTV

There are lots of amazing resources available on SCHOOLTV to support and empower parents to better deal with the challenges of raising happy, well and resilient young people. For short video clips, articles and fact sheets, from leading specialists and key wellbeing organisations, check out the ‘ALL TOPICS’ tab via the link below or on our school website.

Sporting News

NORTHERN SUBURBS ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

It's a hat trick!! For the third consecutive year Emmanuel have been crowned as the champion school at the Northern Suburbs Athletics Carnival. Congratulations to all of our wonderful athletes who competed on Monday and Tuesday this week. Your behaviour and sportsmanship was impeccable and Emmanuel are very proud of you. A special mention to Luke who was awarded age champion and also broke a record in the 200m sprint. We also had 19 competitors who have been selected into the Northern Suburbs Athletics Team and will now compete at the Mackay District Trials held next week. Congratulations to Hudson, Jack, Lila, Josie, Xander, Ivy, Kayden, Pallas, Neila, Preston, Archer, Luke, Harrison, Lailah, Isla, Charlotte, Reid, Lily and Eli. 

Thank you to Mrs McDonald, Miss Giarusso, Mrs Dries and Mrs Wheeler for supporting our students. Thank you to all the parents for rearranging your day to ensure your athlete was there and ready to compete. It was a wonderful event for our community and our school spirit was high.

Lost Property: A black jacket was left in the Emmanuel tent at the end of the day. It has "School Swimming, The Championships" embroided on it. If this jacket belongs to you, please see the office staff for collection.

CHALLENGE CUP

The Challenge Cup is on again and our netball and rugby league teams have travelled to Yeppoon for the competition. Catholic primary schools from around the diocese will be participating. We wish all teams the best for a fabulous celebration of sport and friendship. A full round up of games, photos and results will be shared in our next newsletter.

Lisa Bottcher

HPE Teacher

School Choir

Awards

Congratulations to the students pictured below who received an award in Week 10.

Finance

TERM 3 SCHOOL FEE STATEMENTS

Term 3 Parent Accounts were emailed to all families yesterday, 15 July with payment due Wednesday, 30 July.

If you are making fee payments by Internet Banking, please ensure you use the six-digit Parent Code that appears on the top right-hand corner of your Statement as your reference. Please contact the Finance Office if you have not received your statement, or if you wish to discuss making payments via a regular Direct Debit Authority.

Do you hold a current ‘means tested’  Government Health Care or Pensioner Concession Card? Parents/Carers with an eligible means tested Australian Government Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card can receive a 40% discount on the All-inclusive Education fee of all eligible students from the family (after any family discount has been applied). 

SCHOOL FEES EXPLAINED - FLYER

Please find attached a “School Fees Explained” flyer, developed to inform our Catholic Education families of the Federal Government SRS Funding model (Gonski model) and the impact on School Fees for Catholic Schools. The flyer outlines the direct nexus between the Federal Government means-tested Capacity to Contribute of each School community, and School Fees.

Tuckshop News

Please Note: It is imperative that volunteers DO NOT attend tuckshop if they are unwell or have anyone at home who is unwell.

Parent Orbit

The Parent Orbit app, which is connected to Parent Lounge, will improve our communication with each other as it offers a quick and easy way to receive notifications, view academic reports, book Parent/Teacher interviews, add and acknowledge Student Absences, view and pay School Fees, accept or decline excursions via the Events and Payments tile, update student details, email class teachers and much more.

Notices

CASH ONLY - Please remember to bring small change when purchasing from the Uniform Shop.